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The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel was constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in March 2010 with an agenda to assess the current ecological situation of the Western Ghats and to suggest measure for rejuvenating it. It was also mandated to delineate ecologically sensitive areas. The Panel consisted of 14 members under the chairmanship of Dr. Madhav Gadgil. Dr. V.S. Vijayan from Salim Ali Foundation was a member of the WGEEP committee.

The WGEEP (Madhav Gadgil) report is globally monumental in evolving a development and conservation program for such a large geographic region involving academic, social and administrative inputs. This report highlights how livelihood of people could be improved without damaging biodiversity and environment, in a decentralized, democratic way. It considers development and conservation in an integrated manner. It disapproves the present strategy of excluding local people from both conservation and development.
It is the first of its kind where the recommendations where put to public for debate and acceptance.

The WGEEP Report considering the biotic, geoclimatic and anthropogenic activities classified the Western Ghats into highly significant, moderately significant, less significant zones of ecological sensitivity; zones 1, 2, and 3. Methodology published as a peer-reviewed article in Current Science journal.

In Kerala, a state with the highest population density in India (860 people per sq. .km in 2011), 72% of land area falls within the Western Ghats. This region also hosts about 50% (about 17 million) of its population. This made the publication of the WGEEP Report and its perception in the society very critical and the basis for extensive public debate.

After submission of the report, and as part of Salim Ali Foundation’s focus on conservation and sustainable development of Western Ghats, several awareness building activities have been conducted.

In order to take the recommendations of the report to a larger section of the society, SAF
a) participated in / conducted discussion meetings for:

1. General public at public locations and events (No.s)
2. Schools and colleges (No.s)
3. Academic institutions (No.s)
4. Administrators
5. Legal experts
6. Media

b) published information booklets in English and vernacular language (Malayalam) (see resources)

c) wrote articles in newspapers and journals

d) conducted a public rally in Trivandrum city on 8 January 2014 to highlight the need for implementing the WGEEP (Madhav Gadgil) Report. This rally, comprising about 1500 people from across the Kerala state led to the Kerala state Legislative Assembly.

e) sent representations (including personal meetings) to the Government of India (MoEF) and the Government of Kerala.

f) distributed summary reports to all Members of the Parliament from Kerala and the Kerala State Legislative Assembly.

In Aug 2012 the Indian Government (MoEF) constituted a High Level Working Group on the Western Ghats (HLWG) comprising nine members, chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan to recommend the ways to implement WGEEP (Madhav Gadgil) Report without affecting the marginal and down-trodden communities. The HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report was submitted in April 2013.

The HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report divided the Western Ghats into two on the basis of vegetation and proportion of human habitation. Accordingly, the human habitations including agricultural land has been denoted as ‘cultural landscape’ (67% of Western Ghats – 104,280 sq. km.) and forested area with less human habitation as ‘natural landscape'(37% of Western Ghats – 60,000 sq. km.). It has banned certain activities in the ‘natural landscape’ but promoted many, with a ceiling, that could have serious repercussions on the ecology of the Western Ghats. In the ‘cultural landscape’ no particular restrictions were suggested for any development activities (including mining and quarrying) apart from the existing rules and regulations.

Salim Ali Foundation felt that the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report is incomplete as it had not incorporated the full biodiversity value of different regions. It had included only vegetation (plant) cover and diversity data to classify the entire Western Ghats, ignoring important information on endemism and threat levels to various biota (including plants).

The perceptions of the implications of these reports varied across the society in Kerala, among different stakeholders, particularly different political parties and a section of the church. This led to several protests and wide-spread agitations particularly in the districts of Kerala that fell exclusively within the Western Ghats (Idukki and Wayanad). The major bone of contention in these areas was that both reports, if implemented, would adversely affect the interest of the farmers in these regions. Curiously, the first group to react to the WGEEP (Gadgil) Report was a section of the Church, representing the settlers/farmers in these regions and the same group responded similarly to the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report. The Kerala state government also demanded that the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report be amended as per the wishes of the agitators.

Salim Ali Foundation, in order to increase the awareness of the public and bring clarity to the issue, conducted the following activities:
a) comparative analysis of both WGEEP (Gadgil) and HLWG (Kasturirangan) reports

b) sent the comparative analysis to the Government of India (MoEF) and the Government of Kerala.

c) brought out a boooklet in Malayalam, for the public available at shop

d) the booklet was sent to all Members of the Parliament from Kerala and the Kerala State Legislative Assembly, all 978 Panchayats in Kerala, 2183 major public libraries in Kerala

e) participated in / conducted discussion meetings for:
1. General public at public locations and events (No.s)
2. Schools and colleges (No.s)
3. Academic institutions (No.s)
4. Administrators
5. Legal experts
6. Media

More details can be found in the Resources section. LINK

CURRENT SITUATION
The Government of India, through its official orders dated 13 Nov 2013, 20 Dec 2013 and 4 Mar 2014 approved the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report, with restrictions and made the report open for comments from public (until 4 May 2014).
The Kerala State Government formed a three member committee, convened by the Chairman, Kerala Biodiversity Board, to review the feasibility of implementing the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report in consultation with the stake holders.

SAF PUBLICATIONS
1. The WGEEP (Gadgil) Report – Facts and Concerns in English (download here), Malayalam (download here)
2. Gadgil and Kasturirangan Committee Reports on Western Ghats: A Comparative Analysis (in Malayalam) Buy online for Rs 55 or buy for Rs 20 + Postage (pay by cheque)

OTHER RESOURCES

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